Personalized forced air purifier

ABSTRACT

The present invention is a portable air purifier device intended to be attached to the belt or to the neck of the user and generate purified air enough to breath easily and adequate to make an air curtain to push a way ambient air. Principle of the operation of this device is to push inlet polluted air through layers of ionized water. Water will absorb particles and copper and silver ion kills possible air born bacteria and produce clean air. The purified air will be then delivered to the face of the user either by a flexible hose to a mask or through several flexible hoses to form an air curtain in front of a user&#39;s face.

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

The present invention relates in general to the field of air purifiers,and in particular to a personalized forced air purifier system and mask.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

A wide variety of face masks have been developed to protect people frompolluted particulate matter and dust. Most of the dust masks have beendeveloped to protect people from larger particulate matters such assand, wood dust, metal dust or the like. Many filtering masks aredesigned for removing particles as well as some gasses that may includebacteria or harmful viruses. Filtered masks in the market are notefficient and need high intake pressure, which makes using themdifficult, especially for the elderly. These masks are not convenientand they usually cover most of the face. Additionally, they tend to becumbersome and expensive to manufacture and purchase

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

The present invention is an air purifier in combination with a mask oran air curtain to provide clean breathing air. The air purifiercomprises of a small container, which can be attached to a belt or hangfrom the neck of a user. The container is preferably made of a lightweight material and includes a top lid, a bottom wall and side wallsadapted to house a water absorbing material of any one of sponge, cottonetc, which can be removed to be cleaned. The filter is preferably from amaterial with strong absorbability and is wetted by water or ionizedwater. The wet filter has an inlet area and an outlet area. The inletarea of the wet filter is exposed to the ambient air. The container hasa plurality of openings on the top lid and plurality of openings on theside walls. The container may have any shape and size. A battery drivenair fan is attached to the outlet area of the wet filter to suck theambient air through the wet filter and exhaust a purified air. Inoperation, the fan sucks the ambient air passing through the filter inthe container and exhausts a clear flow of air.

In another embodiment of the present invention the purifier has anionization system embedded inside the container. Said container,contains of a water chamber. The ionization system comprises of twoplate electrodes to ionize and disinfect the water inside the container.Said electrodes are from a heavy metal, such as a copper-silver alloy.Each electrode is being connected to the power source. Released ions inwet filter act as an electrochemical treatment to kill the bacteriareleased from the ambient air.

By inhale, the contaminated air is driven into the container andpollution, dust and contaminants of the air are scrubbed by the filterand neutralized by the ionized water. The purified air is then releasedinto the container-outlet-port. A flexible air hose is connected to theoutlet-port to carry the purified air into the flexible air hose andguide it to the user's interface.

Fastening means are provided on the side walls of the container to openthe top lid of the container and replace the contaminated filter whichcontains dust and dead bacteria and replace it easily with a new filter.The personal air purifier can be attach to ones belt and secured by abelt buckle, or can be hang on the neck.

The output of the container is connected to a mask with an open outletthrough a flexible air hose. Said mask is designed to be mounted on theusers chin by chin-attaching means. Said mask is being held onto theusers head by standard elastic straps. The flexible air hose contains ofplurality of air jets extended to the top surface of the mask. Flexiblewearable pipes under the shirt of the user guide the purified air andgenerate a curtain of purified air in front of the nose and mouth of theuser.

The air purifier of the present invention can also be used with a fullface cover mask having an opening in front of it to direct the exhaleair out of the mask.

The container further comprises of a power source to provide power tothe fan.

Said power source is a DC battery or other suitable batteries that canbe used as a power source.

The present invention can be used in hospitals to make the patientssafer and reduce pandemic air born disease to spread easily. It can beused in dusty areas to filter the air, which is essential especially forpeople with allergy or asthma.

The present invention can also equipped with a container for medicalsolutions to treat a variety of diseases. Inhalation solutions aretypically aqueous-based formulations and contain therapeutically activeingredients and can used by the present invention.

The present invention can also equipped with a container for applyinggood smells for the user in public places.

It is an object of the present invention to provide an air purifyingmask which is light, non-expensive, easy to use and safe.

It is another object of the present invention to provide such a devicewhich is highly portable and which would be lightweight and inexpensiveto construct.

Other objects, features, and advantages of the present invention will bereadily appreciated from the following description. The descriptionmakes reference to the accompanying drawings, which are provided forillustration of the preferred embodiment. However, such embodiments donot represent the full scope of the invention.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

Embodiments herein will hereinafter be described in conjunction with theappended drawings provided to illustrate and not to limit the scope ofthe claims, wherein like designations denote like elements, and inwhich:

FIG. 1 is a front view of the personalized forced air purifier accordingto the present invention;

FIG. 2 is a side view of personalized forced air purifier of the presentinvention and the filter;

FIG. 3 is a top view of the personalized forced air purifier in openposition according to the present invention;

FIG. 4 is a top view of another embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 5 is a top view of another embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 6 is a perspective view of a chin-attaching mask according to thepresent invention;

FIG. 7 is a perspective view of another type of mask portion of thepresent invention; and

FIG. 8 is a perspective view of another embodiment of the personalizedforced air purifier of the present invention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

Referring to FIGS. 1 and 2, it can be seen that the personalized forcedair purifier is a portable wet filter 10 comprises a container 11preferably made of a light weight material. Said container 11 includes atop lid 12 and a bottom wall 14 and side walls 13. Said container isadapted to house a filter. The top lid 12 has perforations 21 to allowthe ambient air 40 to enter into the container for purifying. The lid 12is fastened on top of the container 11 by a fastening means. There arealso openings 21 provided on the side walls 13 of the container 11. Thecontainer 11 is adapted to house a sponge like filter. The filter 20 issponge like material with strong absorbability and is wetted by water orionized water. The filter 20 can be replaced after contaminated with aclean filter.

A battery driven air fan 30 is attached to the bottom wall 14 of thecontainer 11. The air fan 30 sucks the ambient air 40 through the filterand exhausts a purified air 90 and directs it through an outlet-port tothe flexible hose 34. The flexible hose 34 is connected to theoutlet-port from one end and to a mask from another end.

A power source 100 is provided on the side wall 13 of the container toprovide power to the fan 30. Said power source is a DC battery or othersuitable batteries. Li-Ion battery driven fans are readily availablewhich can provide sufficient air flow.

The air purifier 10 is equipped with a control panel 36 to manage thespeed of the air fan 30 and the operation of the power source 100.

FIG. 3 is a top elevation of the inner part of the personalized forcedair purifier 10. The air fan 30 is mounted on the bottom wall 14 of thecontainer and sucks the contaminated air through the openings 21 intothe container 11. The filter 20 is inserted into the container andstands in a higher elevation from the fan 30. The contaminated airpasses through the filter 20 and the pollution, dust and contaminants ofthe air are scrubbed by the filter 20. The purified air 90 is thendiverted into the air hose 34.

According to FIGS. 4 and 5 in another embodiment of the air purifier 10the filtering system comprises a combination of wet filter 20 andionization system. An ionization system is embedded inside the container11. The ionization system comprises of a series of electrodes to produceions and disinfect the air inside the container 11. A variety ofelectrode configurations can be used for purification. FIG. 4 shows twocurved plate electrodes 84-86. The electrodes are from a heavy metal,such as a copper-silver alloy. Each electrode 84-86 is being connectedto the power source 100. Released ions act as an electrochemicaltreatment to kill the bacteria released from the ambient air 40. Theelectrodes 84-86 can be in various configurations and the wet filter 20is then embedded in between the electrodes.

The fan 30 sucks a significant amount of ambient air into the container11 and pollution, dust and contaminants of the air are scrubbed by thefilter 20 and neutralized by the ions. The purified air 90 is thenreleased into the flexible hose 34 through a container-outlet-port. Thepurified air is then carried towards the user's face.

Referring to FIGS. 1, 2, 3 and 4 a flexible air hose 34 is connected tothe outlet port 32 of the container. The air hose 34 receives thepurified air 90 and directs it to the user's face. The flexible hose 34is connected to the outlet-port 32 from one end and to a mask or anotherair distribution system from another end.

The personalized forced air purifier 10 of the present invention isequipped with means to generate a flow of purified air in front ofuser's face. As shown in FIG. 6 said means can be a set of air jets 51provided on a chin attaching air curtain 50. Said air curtain 50 can beattached on the chin of a user 200. Plurality of air nozzles 51 areprovided on the proximal end of the flexible hose 34 and extended to thefront portion of the air curtain 50. The air jets on the air curtaingenerate a curtain of purified air 90 in front of the nose and mouth ofthe user. Said air curtain 50 is attached to the user's chin using anelastic strap 53 or any other strapping means.

Referring to FIG. 7, air generating means can be a face mask 60 havingan opening 61 in front of it. This enables the user 200 to inhale andexhale the forced purified air through the mask 60. Because the purifiedair is forced through the mask and there is a continuous flow ofpurified air in and out of the mask, the unpurified air cannot enter themask. The purified air 90 is directed into the mask 60 through theflexible hose 34 and the exhaled air is carried out of the mask throughthe opening 61.

The personal air purifier 10 is made of a light weight material to beattached to a belt or hang from a neck of a user. According to FIGS. 6and 7, the flexible hose 34 and Interface means 50-60 may comprise ofrigid or resilient material or clear plastic material. Adjustable straps53 can be used to attach the mask to the persons chin or head to allowthe nose and mouth breathe the purified air 90.

FIG. 8 shows another embodiment of the present invention. The personalair purifier 300 comprises a container 11 having a top wall 12, a bottomwall 14, a front wall 15 and a rear wall 16 and side walls 13. Saidcontainer is divided to two sections by a filter 83 and adapted to housea volume of ionized water 80. An ionization system is embedded insidethe water section 80 of the container 11. It is well known that ions ofheavy metals such as copper and silver are biocidals for many bacteria.The ionization system comprises of two plate electrodes 84-86 attachedto the inner walls of said compartment to ionize and disinfect the waterinside the container 11. The first electrode 84 is attached to the frontwall 15 of the container and the second electrode 86 is attached to therear wall 16 of the container. The electrodes 84-86 deposit specificamount of ions into the water 80. Each electrode 84-86 is connected tothe power source 100. Released ions in the water act as anelectrochemical treatment to kill the bacteria released from the ambientair 40 into the water.

A battery driven air fan 30 is attached to the top wall 12 of thecontainer. The air fan 30 sucks the ambient air 40 through openings intothe container 11. The ambient air directs into the container through anair conduit 42. The air conduit 42 extends to the top of the watersurface 88. A variety of air nozzles 44 can be attached to the exit ofthe air conduit 42 to change the air velocity impinging on the watersurface 88.

Referring again to FIG. 8 again a filter 83 divides the container 11into two compartments. The first compartment 81 is on one side of thefilter 83, on the side of the air conduit 42, where the contaminated air40 is injected. The second compartment 82 is on the other side of thefilter 83, in which the air is purified. The pollution, dust andcontaminants of the air are scrubbed by the water and neutralized by theionized water. The purified air 90 entering into the clean compartment82 is guided towards the users face.

The air fan 30 is strong enough to generate 10-15 lit/min output flow ofbreathing air. When this high flow air impinges on the water at thebottom of the container, it generates a significant amount of mixing andturbulence. The splashing water droplets scrub the contaminants, dustand other pollutants from the air. Any other particle that is notabsorbed by the water is filtered through the filter 83. The fan 30 isbattery operated to make it portable. Any type of battery driven fan canbe used. Li-Ion battery driven fans are readily available which canprovide sufficient air flow.

A power source 100 is provided on top wall 12 to provide power to thefan and the ionization system. Said power source is a DC battery orother suitable batteries.

The purified air 90 is then released in the second compartment 82. Anoutlet-port 32 is provided on top wall 12 of the second compartment 82.The flexible hose is then connected to the outlet-port 32 to carry thepurified air 90 into the flexible hose and guide it to the user'sinterface.

As shown in FIG. 8 again an aperture 18 is provided on the top wall 12to fill the container 11. In operation, one need only pour a measuredamount of water through the aperture 18. All of the openings arepositioned so as to prevent any liquid water from leaking out of thecontainer 11. Purified air 90 is provided towards the users' facethrough hose, allowing for the user to breathe clean air. Ionized waterwhich contains dust and dead bacteria will be replaced/refilled easilythrough the same aperture 18.

The foregoing is considered as illustrative only of the principles ofthe invention. Further, since numerous modifications and changes willreadily occur to those skilled in the art, it is not desired to limitthe invention to the exact construction and operation shown anddescribed, and accordingly, all suitable modifications and equivalentsmay be resorted to, falling within the scope of the invention.

With respect to the above description, it is to be realized that theoptimum relationships for the parts of the invention in regard to size,shape, form, materials, function and manner of operation, assembly anduse are deemed readily apparent and obvious to those skilled in the art,and all equivalent relationships to those illustrated in the drawingsand described in the specification are intended to be encompassed by thepresent invention.

What is claimed is:
 1. A personalized forced air purifier comprising: a.a portable filter container having an inlet area and an outlet area,wherein said inlet area of said wet filter is exposed to an ambient air;b. a water absorbing filter to absorbed and retain a mass of water, saidfilter placed inside said container; c. a set of ionization electrodesembedded inside said container to generate ions inside the water of saidwater absorbing filter; d. an air fan attached to the outlet area ofsaid wet filter to suck the ambient air through the wet filter and toexhaust a purified air; e. a power supply to power said fan and said setof ionization electrodes; and f. a face mask to receive said purifiedair from the fan through an air hose, said mask having an outlet port tolet the forced air to pass through the mask and out of the mask outletport, thereby allowing a user of the mask to breath a purified air,whereby said ionization electrodes provide an electrochemical treatmentof the water inside said filter and thereby ensuring that the air passesthrough a purified water.
 2. The personalized air purifier of claim 1,wherein said wet filter container comprising of a container having alid, a bottom surface, and side walls, said lid having perforations toallow air to enter the filter, and said set of electrodes being attachedto said side walls.
 3. The personalized air purifier of claim 1, whereinsaid wet filter container comprising of a container having a lid, abottom surface, and side walls, said lid having perforations to allowair to enter the filter, and said set of electrodes being attached tosaid bottom surface and extending into the container, whereby said waterabsorbing filter being located in between said electrodes.
 4. Thepersonalized air purifier of claim 1, wherein said set of electrodescomprising of a plurality of pair of electrodes embedded inside saidcontainer and said water absorbing filter is fit in between saidelectrodes, whereby the ionization occurs in between every said pair ofelectrodes.
 5. The personalized air purifier of claim 1, wherein saidwater absorbing material is selected from the groups consisting of asponge and a cotton.
 6. The personalized air purifier of claim 1,further having an air curtain system to receive said purified air fromthe fan through an air hose, said air hose having means to generate aflow of purified air in front of a user's face, whereby said airpurifier can be used without using the mask.
 7. The personalized airpurifier of claim 6, wherein said means to generate an air curtain beinga set of air jets.
 8. The personalized air purifier of claim 6, whereinsaid means to generate an air curtain has a chin-attaching means toattach to a user's chin.
 9. The personalized air purifier of claim 6,wherein said means to generate an air curtain has a neck-attaching meansto go around the user's neck.
 10. A personalized air purifiercomprising: a. a container to be partially filled with water and havinga water surface, said container having a first and a secondcompartments; b. a filter fitted in between said first and said secondcompartments; c. an air fan attached to the top surface of saidcontainer; d. an air conduit inside said first compartment having aninlet and an outlet, wherein the inlet is attached to the outlet-port ofsaid fan, wherein said conduit directing air towards the surface of saidwater, and said outlet generating a high velocity air flow impinging onthe water surface to generate a highly turbulent water and waterdroplets, and wherein the air is purified by the water droplets; e. apower source to provide power for said air fan and a pair of electrodes;f. said pair of electrodes attached to the inner walls of said firstcompartment to ionize and disinfect the water inside said container,said second compartment to receive a purified air, said purified airbeing the air that moves from the first compartment through the filterto the second compartment; g. a control panel to manage speed of saidair fan and operation of said power source; h. a container-outlet-portat the top of the second compartment; and i. a flexible pipe attachedfrom one end to said container-outlet-port and to carry the purified airtowards a user's face. whereby said first compartment containscontaminated air, but said second compartment contains purified air. 11.The personalized air purifier of claims 1 and 10, wherein said pair ofelectrodes are copper or silver electrodes.
 12. The personalized airpurifier of claim 10, wherein said power source is a DC battery.
 13. Thepersonalized air purifier of claim 10, wherein said air conduit extendsto the top of the water surface, and wherein a nozzle is attached to theoutlet of the air conduit to increase the air velocity impinging on thewater surface, thereby generating turbulence and rapid mixing betweenthe air and the water.
 14. The personalized air purifier of claim 10,wherein said fan being battery operated to provide sufficient air flow.15. The personalized air purifier of claim 10, wherein said containerfurther having an aperture on the top wall to fill and refill saidcontainer.
 16. The personalized air purifier of claim 10, wherein saidflexible pipe having a nozzle to generate a curtain of purified air infront of the nose and the mouth of the user.